This week on The CineSnob Podcast, Cody and Jerrod review “Annihilation” and “Game Night.” The guys are also baffled by James Gunn’s revelation that Baby Groot isn’t Groot reincarnated, but actually Groot’s son.

The mind of writer and director Charlie Kaufman is an odd, and often times brilliant place. His creative, original and complex ideas have led to impressive pieces of cinema like “Being John Malkovich” and even an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” His style is uniquely his own, which, of course, means that it is an acquired taste always on the verge of being too clever for its own good. In “Anamolisa,” Kaufman tests the limits of subtlety and eccentricity in an animated meditation on depression.

A man named Michael (David Thewlis) is on a tour giving speeches about his line of work. Fighting depression and his mundane life, Michael unhappily finds himself in a distant city in a hotel room. There, he meets a girl named Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who is different in comparison to everyone he has met in recent memory. As he develops a quick relationship with this insecure woman, he tests his feelings to see if they are real.

The most notable stylistic quality of “Anamolisa” is its use of beautiful animation. With 3-D printed faces, characters look photorealistic and settings are gorgeous and detailed. The use of animation actually allows Kaufman to take the idea for the film and make it possible and convincing. To display true depression, Kaufman makes everyone that Michael runs into have the same exact face and monotonous voice regardless of gender. It’s a quality that lends itself to some funny jokes and moments, but completely runs its course by the middle of the film.

It is those qualities and the wonderful voice work by David Thewlis that really drive home the themes of isolation, loneliness and depression. As Michael wanders through a secluded life, everyone he meets is exactly the same and he could not be less interested. Kaufman does a good job of displaying the need for human contact that can plague some of those with depression, but we never really see true nuances for Michael that are below skin deep. It becomes evident as the film progresses that the narrative isn’t nearly as important as the character study. Unfortunately, none of the characters are particularly interesting.

“Anamolisa” is one of the more adult animated films that you’ll see. It has somewhat graphic sex scenes, harsh language, and very mature themes. It would be dishonest to call “Anamolisa” a gimmick, because Kaufman is sincere and meticulous with his themes. But what would be fair would be to call “Anamolisa” an underwhelming and surface level film that never truly inspires enough empathy.

Three years after Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning “Django Unchained” opened on Christmas Day 2012, the controversial filmmaker delivers another Western bloodbath for fans to eat up this holiday season, this time a 3-hour epic (including prologue and intermission) set in post-Civil War Wyoming. With a strong blizzard bearing down, two bounty hunters, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and John Ruth (Kurt Russell), the latter chained to fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), find shelter in a local haberdashery where they must keep their eyes on a motley crew of strangers with unknown intentions. As with most of Tarantino’s creations, the film is full of smartly written dialogue and absurd violence. Different is the stage play quality it exhibits since most takes place in a single location. This might be second-tier Tarantino, but there’s plenty to enjoy, especially composer Ennio Morricone’s extraordinary score.